Lots of choices make it a buyer’s market

If you’re a buyer, last year you had about five houses to choose from — now you have 25, she says.

As more homes go up for sale and mortgage rates remain stable and favorable, prices are coming down. Varney is describing “affordable” housing by the Wachusett Region definition.

“If a house is under the $300,000 threshold, things seem to move fairly rapidly because buyers can qualify for a mortgage easily,” she says. “When you start getting to the $400,000 mark, houses are no long ‘affordable’ to most people and sales are slow.”

She says under $300,000 is where you’ll find first-time buyers. Beyond that, to the $300,000 to $400,000 range, they see mostly second or third-time buyers who are trading up and have equity to apply to higher mortgages.

HOLDEN: 30 Harrington Drive. Five-bedroom cape, 2 baths, 2-car garage on .4 acre. $379,900. With fuel prices climbing, many people who buy expensive homes need to travel farther to be able to handle the debt service of big mortgages and the accompanying hefty real estate taxes. Add to that soaring gas prices for that long commute, and a winter that

If you can remember back to autumn 2004, gas prices were lower, hurricanes weren’t menacing the U.S. coastline every other week,

“Houses aren’t going as quickly as last year,” says Karen Varney of Waterwheel Realty, where she manages the family company’s Paxton office. “Of the 10 houses we’ll have on the market at a time, only three are selling within three months.” that soaring gas prices for that long commute, and a winter that promises high heating expenses, and prospective home buyers are thinking twice on what they can actually afford to pay for a house.

HOLDEN: Seasons at Salisbury, 55+ adult community. Two bedrooms, two baths. $500,000. “We are seeing a shake-up of what people can and cannot afford because of energy costs,” Paul Varney Sr. says. “The cost of energy is going to trickle down to everything. People with a big mortgage, car payment, big real estate tax bill, who were right on the edge already are going to find they can’t afford everything any more. A lot of people who just live within their means — or beyond — are going to be affected.”

He said they’re seeing people house-hunting in the low and middle price range really looking at heating efficiency — a two-story ‘great room’ has a lot of heating loss — but people who can swing the higher price range aren’t going to give up desirable architectural features because of energy costs, because they can afford to.

RUTLAND: 72 Glenwood Road. Four-bedroom Georgian colonial, 3.5 baths, 3/4 acre. $529,000. Homeowners looking to trade up are cautious about their ability to sell their present house before committing to buying another.

“We’re finding more prospective buyers are putting a proviso in their agreement to buy, that it is subject to the sale of their existing house,” he says.

“When you’re getting over the $250,000 range, you’re getting buyers with a house to sell. The higher the price, the more likely to have the sale subject to the sale of the old house.”

Paul Varney says the condo market is the same as single-family houses — sale volume depends on the price. A well-managed condo gives people, particularly the over-55s and retirees, the ability to travel and not have to worry about upkeep or vandalism while they are away, as they might with a single-family home. Mortgage rates

Brian Moore of Arrow Mortgage in Holden agrees there’s a lot more inventory now than a year ago.

He’s seeing the most activity in the under $500,000 range, which is the case statewide.

“There seems to be a lot of first-time buyers and a lot of people starting to refinance out of variable, interest-only and option arms mortgages they’ve been carrying,” he says.

Rates for 30-year fixed mortgages are at six percent now, less for 20-year mortgages.

Florida, Nevada and California are the hot real estate markets now where a homebuyer can expect to turn a profit in a few short years. Otherwise, people shouldn’t expect their home equity to climb dramatically in that brief time, he says.

Moore says condos aren’t a major factor in the Wachusett area, but are more plentiful as you get closer to Boston.

Some first-time home buyers find they get a nice condo for $200,000 rather than a single-family house, he says. “If you want a nice starter home that doesn’t need work, you can expect to pay $225,000$270,000 for a basic two-bedroom ranch. The price spread depends on what updates the house has.”

Moore says almost all people get pre-approval for a mortgage before they start house-hunting. He agrees that current owners looking to buy another house would like to have the new sale contingent on selling their present house, but a lot of sellers won’t go for that.

If that’s the case, the buyers can apply for a 90-day bridge loan, so they can carry two mortgages while they’re trying to sell their old house. Holden’s the hub

Bud McManus of Century21 McManus Associates in Holden says they are extremely busy, a change from 18 to 24 months ago when single-family inventories were low.

“We feel the market is balanced — a good number of buyers out there and a good number of houses available,” he says. “Before, it was a feeding frenzy with so few homes available. Now people have choices.”

He says higher priced houses aren’t selling as fast as the lower ones, probably because of affordability.

“Above $200,000 is the entry level now,” he says. “The middle range is $350,000 to $500,000. Above that, you’re talking about a limited number of people who can afford it.”

He says the housing market is very good, interest rates are strong and people are optimistic.

“Six percent is good and rates have been low for a sustained amount of time,” McManus says. “I remember not too long ago when people thought seven percent was heaven. Especially when you remember that they went to 18 percent there for a while.

“What feeds the market is first-time home buyers,” he says. “They usually want a three-bedroom house with a garage and fireplace, with maybe one-and-a-half baths.

“The next size up are your larger Capes and Colonials. In the last five to 10 years in Holden, a lot of nice colonials were built that are just starting to turn over, and they’re in that middle-range that sees a lot of buyers.”

McManus says his company is expected “a balanced year.”

“We used to have very active spring and fall markets, and then nothing after that until the next spurt. We’re not finding that now. We’re busy all year,” he says.

He says people used to move after school ended, and at the start of the calendar year for business reasons, but the use of computers and other innovations means folks don’t move as much because of work.

“People look at Holden as being the hub of the Wachusett area,” McManus says. “There is more variety and options to buy in Holden than the surrounding towns. Buyers are pretty informed these days. They have the ability to go online and check school test scores, and our area stands very tall in education.”

His three children left Holden after school, married and have now moved back to town with their children.

He says, “My kids moved back because they enjoyed what they had here growing up, and they want to give that to their kids.” Single family home sales for September Wachusett region sales Total properties: 43 Average days on the market: 56 Lowest price: $200,000 Highest price: $1,127,156 Median price: $349,900 Average price: $382,494

By town Holden Total properties: 19 Average days on the market: 47 Lowest price: $200,000 Highest price: $579,500 Median price: $333,000 Average price: $334,708